AFPI Stands for Virginians’ Second Amendment Rights

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) has released the following statement from Knox Williams, AFPI Senior Fellow for American Justice, in response to a new efforts to restrict Second Amendment rights in the state of Virginia:

“250 years ago, our Founding Fathers fought and won a revolution to free us from tyrannical government overreach,” said Williams. “Now, under the guise of ‘protecting us from ourselves,’ the Virginia General Assembly has voted to strip law-abiding Virginians of their Second Amendment rights with a breakneck speed and scale that would make our forefathers heads spin.”

If signed into law, these bills will ban many of the most common firearms in America, limit standard-capacity magazines, prohibit law-abiding citizens from carrying or transporting legal firearms in certain areas even with proper permitting, restrict concealed carry reciprocity agreements with other states, and encourage politically motivated lawfare against both firearm manufacturers and retailers.

In a classic example of “rules for thee, not for me,” the Assembly even attempted to exempt lawmakers from the some of the restrictions that would be imposed against law-abiding Virginians. This clause was removed from the legislation following pressure from the public.

The right of the people to keep and bear arms is a God-given right that is explicitly protected by our nations’ most sacred document—the Constitution of the United States. It is the liberty that protects all others. AFPI condemns any attempt by a governing body to infringe upon the inalienable and constitutionally protected rights of Americans.